What Are Friends For?
by HazelTree019
Summary: Jules and her boyfriend are taking hostage at gunpoint, with no way to contact the team.  Spoiler alert: Between Heartbeats, series 1. One Wrong Move, Series 2. Series 3.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Wait a sec, pull in here."

Jules rolled her eyes.

"We'll be late," she complained half-heartedly, glancing at the man sat in the passenger seat. "We check in at 9:30."

He smiled at her.

"Trust me. We've still got time." She looked at his short dark hair, warm eyes and his lean, muscular figure and felt herself slowly giving in. Sean flashed a stunning smile at her and the outcome was inevitable. Jules checked her watch and conceded, pulling up at the side of the road. Sean opened the door and she followed suit, wondering exactly what he had in mind. He led her across the street by the hand, towards a shop with the words 'T. H. Morgan' emblazoned across the front. They went inside.

Gold sparkled from every side, hundreds of tiny facets winking at expensive jeweller's was not a place she frequented. Sean walked boldly up to the counter and gave his name. The balding man behind the desk disappeared into a back room. Jules shot a questioning glance at Sean who just smiled mysteriously again. She looked around. Glass cabinets lined one wall of the shop, full of earrings and bracelets whose price tags she didn't dare to read. The counter itself was glass too, displaying a variety of delicate statues and watches. The man returned with a black box in his hands.

"Here you are, sir." Sean thanked him, taking the box. He turned to Jules, who eyed him suspiciously as he opened it.

"Jewels for Jules," he said, grinning. Inside the box glistened a silver chain,with a smallcluster of diamondssuspended from it.A tiny gasp escaped Jules' lips as she reached out a finger to touch it.

"You don't like it then?"

"It's stunning," she half-whispered. Sean laughed.

"Then I guess we better keep it." He lifted it from the box and unclipped the fastening. Jules turned round and he did it up for her; sweeping her brown hair out of the way, he paused to kiss her lightly on the neck.

"Thank you." The words didn't sound adequate to Jules' ears, but Sean didn't seem to care.

"My pleasure. I have to spoil you as often as possible, it's in the job description."

The man behind the counter was watching them quietly with a soft smile on his face. The smile slowly faded as a bell jangled merrily through the shop. Jules didn't look round until Sean suddenly poked her hard in the ribs.

"Ouch!" she turned to poke him back, then stopped. A dark figure stood in the doorway, the bright sunshine outside obscuring the features of the hooded face. But it did not obscure the silhouette of the revolver held in the figure's right hand.

Sergeant Greg Parker straightened up.

"Now remember guys, Jules is on vacation for the next two weeks."

"Typical woman, slacking off whenever she feels like it," grinned Spike. Greg smiled.

"I think you'll find Jules works just as hard as the rest of us, Spike," said Sam, sharply.

"Enough, Sam. Now while she's away, Donna will be covering for her." Donna raised her hand in acknowledgement.

"You mean you big, butch men can't take care of yourselves?" Leah laughed.

As Greg held his hands up to stem the flow of conversation, Sydney's voice called across to the team.

"Team One, we got a call out to a jeweller's on Montague Street. Robbery in progress: armed subject, multiple hostages. Hot call."

Greg stood up.

"Ok, people. Let's keep the peace."

The SUVs rumbled out of the stationand headed for the highway as Greg briefed his team over the intercom.

"Right, we've got one subject armed with a revolver. He's got multiple hostages, but no shots have been fired."

"Who called it in?" asked Ed.

"A dog-walker in the street saw the subject's gun. There's at least one member of staff in there, and two customers. Wordy, I need you to contact the walker, see what else she can tell us. Leah, ask around, there may be other witnesses."

"Copy."

"Spike, we need eyes on this one, and track down the blueprints for the store. Ed and Donna you're alpha team, lethal solution. Sam you're on bravo with Leah, less lethal."

The subject walked forward, pointing the gun at each of them in turn. Jules felt her heart racing, scared not only for herself but for Sean took a deep breath to calm herself down, trying to decide the best way of keeping him safe. Should she try to negotiate her way out of this? Or would it be better to keep her head down? She didn't want the subject to spook and pull the trigger.

Acting through instinct, she and Sean backed away as the figure came towards them. Jules caught the glimpse of a woman's face below the hood. The subject aimed the gun at them and thrust a rucksack into the trembling arms of the shopkeeper. The old man hurriedlypulled several keys out of his pocket, his fingers fumbling as he struggled to find the right one. His hands were shaking so badly he could barely unlock the cash register. The drawer flew open and he hastily grabbed fistfuls of coins and stuffed them into the bag. Watching the shopkeeper intently, the woman's arm was slowly lowering, the weapon now limp in her hand. Jules heard Sean start to say something and elbowed him sharply in the stomach, but the subject had heard him too. The gun swung up instantly, aiming straight into Sean's face. Jules wanted to look at him, to check he wasn't going to do anything stupid, but she knew she needed to focus her attention on the one holding the weapon. Tentatively, she spoke.

"You know, guns never help in situations like this."

"Shut it!" The woman turned both her attention and her gun on Jules, who swallowed. She was now staring straight down the dark barrel of a revolver. Her memory flashed back to a rooftop: she remembered the sudden white-hot pain as the bullet tore through her side. She remembered the agonising minutes lying there, blinded by the fear that her team wouldn't reach her in time. She tried not to panic as she realised that she had no way to reach her team now. No one was coming to her rescue.

"What would you know about any of this?"

"You're right. I don't know anything about this. Why don't you tell me what it's all about?"

"I'm not going to tell you anything you don't need to know." The subject turned angrily to the shopkeeper, who had been staring at the two women. "Hurry up! You've got one minute to fill that bag, or your day's gonna get a lot worse."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"My name is Greg Parker, I'm with the Police Strategic Response Unit." The voice echoed around the shop, making everyone start. Jules' eyes flickered to the gun held just inches from her face. In spite of the danger she faced, she felt a warm relief flood through her body. Her team was outside.

**.**

The subject's eyes had widened in horror when Greg spoke through the megaphone, and now they were darting around the shop, looking for a potential escape route.

"We want to help you resolve this situation, but we can't do that unless you talk to us. I'm going to ring the store phone in a second, and I'd like you to pick it up."

"No. This wasn't supposed to happen," she muttered. "In and out again. No one sees, no one knows."

"It sounds like this hasn't gone to plan." Jules paused, trying not to talk like someone who did this for a living.** "**I don't think you want to use that gun, you don't want anyone to get hurt. So how about you lower it a bit, huh?" Jules spoke softly, knowing that if the woman became any more tense, she could pull the trigger whether she meant to or not. After a second, the phone chirped behind the counter.

"Don't answer it!" The woman turned to face the shopkeeper and as the gun left her face, Jules released a breath she didn't know she had been holding. "That bag had better be full." He nodded dumbly, and held it out her. She snatched it from his grasp and checked the contents. The phone rang again, and Jules saw the woman shoot it a nervous glance.

"Look, they're with the police right? If you answer, maybe there's something they can do to help." Jules knew that line of negotiation was closed before she had finished the sentence. It was clear the woman was not going to give in that easily.

.

Greg hung up the phone with a sigh – it was obvious no-one was going to answer.

"Have we got CCTV yet?"

"On it now, boss." Spike hit a last button and a grainy security video filled the computer screen. He frowned. "Boss?"

"What's up, Spike?" He pointed to a blurry black and white figure, standing with a man at the counter.

"That's Jules."

.

The subject walked to the door at the back of the shop.

"What's through here?" she asked the shopkeeper.

"Nothing," he stammered. "Just the stockroom and my workshop."

"Isn't there a back way out?" He shook his head silently. Pressing the gun into his chest, she peered through the door. From the expression on her face, Jules could tell that she didn't like what she saw. The woman closed the door again.

"Listen, why don't you put the gun down, and we can try and work this out together. Maybe there's a way for all of us to get out without anyone getting hurt."

The woman swung the gun round to face Jules.

"No-one is leaving this building right now. I'm not going to let some cop negotiator talk me into giving myself up, so I won't be answering that phone, either. Now just sit down against the wall and stay quiet while I figure out what to do. All of you!" She shoved Sean back towards the wall, and he quickly sat down. Jules and the shopkeeper joined him.

"Isn't there something your team can do?" Sean whispered to Jules.

"If she won't answer the phone, and won't let anyone out, then there's no way for them to find out what she wants. They'll need to find a way in first."

"Can't you phone them?"

"You think she won't notice? And my earwig is at the office. Didn't think I'd need it in Hawaii."

Sean had a point though. Someone needed to get the woman to talk to them, to tell them what she wanted so they could all go home _sometime_ today. It looked like they wouldn't be making that 9.30 flight anyway, Jules thought ruefully. She'd been so looking forward to some time away from the office, just her and Sean.

.

"So, is this your shop" Jules tried to sound matter-of-fact: the old man was sitting on the floor, shaking visibly, and she needed him to stay calm.

He looked up at her. "Ye-yes. I'm Tom Morgan."

"I'm Jules, this is Sean."

"What are we going to do? Are we going to die here?"

She shook her head. "No-one's going to die, Tom. We've got to stick together, we can find a way to work this out."

She looked at the subject. A glint of gold caught her eye. A chain hung over the collar of the hoody, with a fragile-looking 'A' hanging from it.

"What's with the necklace?"

"You just don't shut up do you?" After a short pause she said: 'A' is for 'Artemis'. Satisfied?"

Jules decided it would be safest to stay quiet.

.

The silence stretched on.

"Hey." Jules called across the store. 'Artemis' turned to face her. "I need to pee, real bad."

"There's a toilet out back, next to my workshop," Tom said.

The woman hesitated, and Jules tried to look desperate. "Please?"

"Hurry up. If you're not back in five minutes, I'm coming in to get you."

Jules stood up and made her way hurriedly to the bathroom. She locked the door behind her and quickly pulled out her phone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"Jules? Are you okay?" Greg asked, anxiety clear in his voice.

"I'm fine, Boss. Listen, she isn't gonna pick up the phone any time soon, and she's going to notice if I try to negotiate her."

"So what can you tell me about her?"

"Nothing much. She calls herself Artemis. Boss, she's desperate. I've never seen anyone so determined not to give in; she's gotta be in some kind of trouble. She doesn't seem the type who would just go on the rampage like that with no good reason."

"Jules listen, I need you to try and connect with her. Find out why she did hasn't hurt anyone yet, there's still a chance she can walk away from it all. Make sure she knows that."

"I'll do my best, Sarge." Suddenly there was a loud crashing sound in Greg's ear. The line went dead.

"Spike, this subject is a woman. We need to find out who she is. Have a look in the criminal database, and see if you can find any reference to an 'Artemis.'"

"She's some kind of Greek goddess isn't she?"

"Well I don't think it'll be the goddess who's taking hostages."

.

Wordy knocked on the door and immediately a volley of barks erupted from inside the house. The door opened to reveal a young woman, holding the collar of a large Dobermann.

"Jessica Stanley?"

She nodded her head into the hallway.

"Come in."

Wordy went inside.

"So, how can I help you?" she asked, letting go of the dog who bounded at Wordy, and began licking his face vigorously.

"Windsor, get down." The Dobermann gave Wordy a final lick then went and sat contentedly in the corner, where he proceeded to rip up a small teddy bear, leaving stuffing all over the carpet.

"I need to know exactly what you saw this morning."

"Well, I don't really know what I did see. I was walking Windsor home after going to the park. We took a shortcut and came out in the high street; I remember there was a hooded man getting out of a car. As we passed, Windsor tried to jump on him, and the man threw him off. I was so angry, I was about to say something, but then his coat fell to one side, and I saw the gun in his belt. He looked like someone who wouldn't be afraid to use it, so I got out of there as fast as I could. As soon as I got round the corner, I pulled out my phone and called you."

"Is it possible that it wasn't a man you saw?"

"Well, I guess it could've been a woman, I didn't really see his face. I suppose I just thought it would be."

"You say the subject got out of a car? Can you tell me what car it was?"

"Well, I don't really know cars very well. It was a red one, parked just around the corner from the shop."

"No make or model? Did you get the licence plate at all?"

She shook her head. "Sorry."

"Can you describe it to me? Did you see how many doors it had, whether there were any scratches on it? Anything like that?"

Jessica nodded. "It was a five door, but not very big. And there was some kind of charm hanging from the rear view mirror – a crescent moon, I think it was."

Wordy smiled at her.

"Thanks for your time, Jessica."

She walked him to the door. The dog followed, and Wordy tentatively scratched him on the head before leaving.

.

The command truck door opened, and Leah walked in.

"Boss, I've asked around, but no-one saw anything."

"OK, thanks Leah."

Ed's voice came through the earpiece.

"We've got a problem, Sarge. The only shot is through the front window, and the subject is too close to the hostages right now to try anything."

"Ok, Eddie. Do what you can. With any luck we won't need the shot."

On the CCTV, the subject was pacing up and down the shop. Every now and again she glanced warily out of the window.

Spike hadn't found any reference to an 'Artemis' in the database.

"Why are you doing this?" muttered Greg. "What do you want?"

As the woman turned back towards Jules and the others, her hood slipped back from her head. She pulled it up quickly, but it had been enough.

"Spike, freeze that image." Spike pressed a couple of buttons, rewinding the video and zooming into her face. The picture was far from clear, and at an awkward angle, but you could just about make out a young woman.

"Can you clear that up?"

"Do you really have to ask?"

.

Sam stood with Ed, watching as his team mate set up his shot. He fidgeted restlessly. Ed looked at him, and then rested his rifle on the stand in front of him.

"You know, Jules is clever. She's gonna be ok, Sam."

"She's in there on her own. She's got no gun, and no way to get hold of me…us." Sam scowled. His insides twisted themselves up as he recalled the last time Jules had fallen victim to a gunman. He didn't want her to have to go through that again. He didn't think he could do it either.

Ed peered through the sights, lining up his shot perfectly, so that, for the moment at least, the bullet would shoot straight through the subject's heart. Sam didn't have to look to know it would kill first time.

"She isn't alone, Sam. She's got Sean; he'll look out for her. Besides, she does this for a living, remember? She knows how to deal with an armed hostage."

Sam ignored the remark about Sean.

"But we can't even get a shot in without risking her." Now it was Ed's turn to shift uncomfortably.

"Sam, we're all worried. When one of the team is taken hostage, it knocks us all off balance. But we can't afford to let it get on top of us."

"How can it not?"

.

Jules saw a woman in her mid-20s, with strong features, and strikingly blue eyes, before the hood was hurriedly tugged back up, casting a shadow across the face.

"You know that you've got no way out of here? You're gonna have to talk to the cops at some point." The gun, which had been hanging idly from the woman's hand, swung round to face her. But Artemis had no retort. Jules could see that she already knew she would have to give in soon. She could also see that she didn't want to give in, any more than she wanted to shoot Jules. Jules decided that she had to risk it.

"Why are you doing this, Artemis?"

"Because it's for her," came the short reply, but Jules detected a note of fondness in the answer. And perhaps a quiver of surrender. But only a small quiver.

"Who is it for, Artemis? A friend?" The woman looked at her, then slowly nodded her head. The eyes that stared at Jules from underneath the hood, looked distant, as though she were remembering a forgotten past.

"She must be some friend, for you to so do much for her."

"She helped me, when no one else would." The words seemed as though they were being forced reluctantly out. She seemed to be struggling against herself, part of her wanting to tell someone, anyone, what was weighing on her mind; the other part knowing she should be keeping silent, shouldn't be spilling her guts to some stranger.

"What would she say; if she knew you were doing this for her?" Artemis shifted uncomfortably. "Do you think she would want you to put yourself in so much trouble because of her?"

"Wouldn't you? To help someone you loved?"

"Yes," Sean said softly. "I would."

Jules didn't answer. She found Sean's hand, and squeezed it slightly. It was reassuring to know that he was here. Even though he could do nothing to help, at least she wasn't alone. In the silence, Sean's stomach rumbled audibly. Artemis turned to face him, then quietly walked over to stand by the phone. Pointing towards it, she looked up at the security camera.

.

"Boss?" Spike called over to Greg, who was pouring over the blueprints to the store.

"Spike?"

"I think she wants to talk now." The figure on the screen was gesturing towards the phone, her hood covering the face that was obviously looking straight at them. Greg dialled, and watched as the figure finally reached out to answer.

The voice on the other end of the line was definitely that of a woman, although Greg had never heard a woman sound quite like her. She sounded hoarse, but he could tell she was strong. There was a determination to her voice, the sound of someone who doesn't give in without a fight. She knew what she wanted, and she certainly didn't leave any doubt as to what it was.

"I need food for four people. I will send out someone to collect it in half an hour. If you try to slip any bugs in with it, I will shoot the woman."

This is good, thought Greg. She's made contact voluntarily, and she's thinking about the needs of her hostages. Forcing aside his anxiety at the casual threat to his teammate's life, he assured her he would do what he could to help.

"Well I'll start working on that. You know, it's good that you decided to talk to me. My name is Greg Parker, can I ask who I'm talking to?"

"Half an hour." The figure in the screen put the phone down and walked away.

"Leah, the subject wants food, would you sort something out?"

"On it, Boss."

Wordy appeared in the doorway.

"The witness saw someone getting out of a car round the corner from the store. She didn't know the make, or licence plate number, but she said that it was red and had a crescent moon hanging in the window. I've checked the cars nearby, and there was only one that matched the description."

He handed Greg a piece of paper with a licence plate number written in an untidy scrawl.

"Good work. Spike, find me the owner of this car."

Spike typed a few keys, and the screen filled with text.

"Ok, the owner is one Kathy Farthings, current address: 47 Hikays street. I've also got a hit in the criminal database. She was a victim of domestic abuse."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"Artemis, who's your friend? Why are you willing to put everything on the line for her?"

Artemis was silent for a moment. As Jules scanned her face, she saw a change come over the tight, worried features. When she spoke the voice was soft, quite different to the one that had threatened to kill Jules less than half an hour ago.

"She helped me. When no one else was interested, she helped me."

Love and affection showed in Artemis' face, stirring something deep within Jules, and she grasped Sean's hand, suddenly longing for the moment when she could hold tightly to him and never have to let go. With a mental shake, she pulled herself together. She couldn't afford to let this woman get under her skin, her priority had to be getting everyone out of here safely.

"Why, what happened, Artemis?"

Artemis checked her watch.

"They didn't believe me. Everybody said that Jake was such a lovely man. That I was lucky to have him, we were meant to be together. But then it all changed."

.

"The husband, Jake Farthings, used to work as a manager for a local insurance firm. The company went bust a few years back, Jake lost his job." Spike's eyes roved across the monitor as he pulled up the case file. "He couldn't find anywhere else that would take him on, had his licence revoked for driving under the influence, then got brought in for a couple of drunk and disorderlies."

Wordy looked over Spike's shoulder at the screen. "Looks like he'd been abusing her for over two years by the time the law found out," he said. "A few bruises here and there, somewhere safely hidden under her clothes, no one would ever notice it."

.

"He always kept a revolver in the bedside table. Just in case I forgot my place, he said. No one ever believed me when I said he was bad. He was always careful not to leave too many marks. And they were always somewhere I would never have dared show anyone." Jules' skin prickled at the thought of what this woman had been through. How terrified she must have been with no one there to stop him.

"But when I told her, she listened. And then, that night…" she stopped talking.

"What did she do that night?" Jules asked quietly. Artemis seemed to come out of her reverie, and looked at her watch.

"Stand up." Sean made to get up instead, but Artemis pointed the gun at him.

"Not you, the woman," she said.

.

Looking up at the CCTV footage, Greg was suddenly faced with the image of his friend. A gun was pointed at her head.

"Where's that food, Leah?"

"Ready, Boss," came through his earpiece.

"I need it now. Donna, I want you ready to hand it over to her, but don't do anything else. I don't need another member of my team stuck in there. Leah, cover her back."

"Copy."

He picked up the phone and dialled the store's number. He breathed a sigh of relief when the gun was taken from Jules' head and the bearer walked towards the phone on the counter.

"Well?"

"The food is ready. Someone is outside waiting for you."

"I'm sending the woman out to get it. Don't be in any doubt. This gun will be aimed straight at her head. Any bullshit and I pull the trigger. Understood?"

"Understood." The phone was hung up at the other end.

.

Artemis unlocked the door and gestured towards it with the barrel of the revolver.

"Take the food, come back in. Don't try anything." Jules nodded. The subject didn't know she was a cop, and she needed to keep it that way. She stepped out into the warm summer air, and a cool breeze brushed her skin. She didn't have long to enjoy it however, and she could feel the gun behind her, spurring her on towards the colleagues in front of her. Standing inside the barrier of police cars was Donna holding a box. She took another step. She struggled against the urge to run to the command truck that was parked just on the other side of the street, to get out while she had the chance. But Sean was still in there, and she would be of no use to him with a bullet in the back. With every step taking her closer to them, her love for her team grew stronger. She knew that every one of them was protecting her right now, that Ed would be there with a sniper rifle trained on the subject, and Greg would be on hand to negotiate Artemis into letting them all go home. She wanted to run. She wanted to be anywhere but in the firing line. Most of all, she wanted to be on the plane to Hawaii, with her boyfriend and a large bar of chocolate, with no worry except whether her luggage would get lost on the way.

.

She reached Donna, who smiled encouragingly at her. She forced her face into what felt more like a grimace and took the box. As she did, she felt something else pressed into her hand. She carefully refrained from looking at it, not wanting to draw the subject's attention to the object now hidden in her palm.

"How you holding up in there?" Donna asked.

"Yeah, we're doing okay. She seems willing enough to talk to me now. Hopefully I'll be able to get her to tell me what's really going on."

"Good. Spike's found out who she is. Her name is Kathy, she was abused by her husband for years before he got caught. We're looking up her flatmate now."

Jules nodded. Suddenly, she heard Artemis' voice shout from the shop doorway.

"Get back in here now!" With difficulty, she turned away from her teammates. As she did so, she stumbled and dropped the small box on the floor. Picking it up she headed back to the jewellers, comforted only by the feel of the earwig now nestled inside her boot.


End file.
